Bestest Mommy Ever
by Scifiroots
Summary: And just how does a little girl celebrate mother’s day with two dads? A future fluff fic say that five times fast . Johnny/Bruce


Bestest Mommy Ever

By Clarity Scifiroots  
Regular disclaimers apply.  
**Fandom/Characters**: Dead Zone – JJ, Bruce, Johnny, 2 OCs – Bruce/Johnny  
**Rating**: All  
**Summary**: And just how does a little girl celebrate mother's day with two dads? A future fluff fic (say that five times fast). Inspired a bit by my own experiences as a child except my issues were with father's day.  
May!fic 13 of 31

--

Johnny Bannerman (no longer so little at 16) volunteered to pick up his sisters after school. His dad didn't finish work until five, his mom was treating herself to a manicure/pedicure, Bruce had an extra patient that day, and Johnny's (his other dad) knee was acting up. JJ didn't mind. (And he would always be "JJ" to his family. Unless he got in trouble and then his mom used his full name—first, middle, and last. That was never pleasant. Even Dad stayed away from her when she got angry.)

He stopped first at the kindergarten room for Maggie. She spotted him right away and dashed across the room and ran into his arms full-speed. Her little arms wrapped tightly around one of his, and she started babbling about the day and art class and the classroom's water table... JJ shook his head and looked up as the teacher approached, smiling and carrying Maggie's small backpack and a rolled-up piece of paper.

"Thanks," he said.

"The kids made drawings for mother's day," she said, handing over the paper.

Maggie immediately let go of her brother and grabbed at the paper. "Look, JJ!" He helped her unroll her creation. He grinned at her drawing of her and Mom in a garden. A large portion of the sky was filled with Maggie's messy letters spelling "hapy mother day;" she'd not quite copied it down right.

"This is great! Mom's gonna put on the fridge, front and center," JJ told her. Maggie beamed. "Let's get going, we're picking up Zoey, too."

"Is she staying over?" Maggie asked as she took his hand.

"Not this time, it's a school night, remember?" Maggie pouted. "I bet if you ask Mom and Zoey's dads you can work something out for the weekend."

"Okay!"

Down the hall and around the corner they came to the first through third grade corridor. Zoey's head was poking out of her homeroom's doorway. She disappeared inside briefly before reappearing with her Chip 'n Dale lunchbox and bright blue backpack. The first-grader skipped towards them with a grin.

"I didn't know you were coming!" she exclaimed. Maggie pounced and wrapped her in a hug. The girls giggled.

JJ rolled his eyes and motioned them to hurry up. "Come on, let's go home."

Zoey and Maggie held hands and skipped ahead

JJ was checking that the girls had buckled in when Maggie started showing off her drawing.

"And that's a bird, and our roses, and my mommy, and me!" Maggie pointed out everything. JJ started the car and pulled out of the lot. "What did _you_ do?"

JJ looked in the rearview mirror and saw Zoey unzipping her bag. She pulled out a big envelope and opened it, sliding out a folded piece of paper. He could see the back of the card with the accompanying imitation of the Hallmark golden crown. He grinned.

"Who're you giving your card to, Zo?" he asked. She held up her card so he could see the front. "Sorry, sweetie, I'm driving. What's it say?"

"It's for the bestest mommy in the world," she said.

JJ glanced back in the mirror. She was smiling proudly.

"Um... sweetie, what about your _daddies_?" He was a little confused, the last two years her teachers knew about her parents and let her make whatever kind of card she wanted to.

Zoey frowned. "Mrs. K was sick," she explained. "Mrs. Mason said it's _mother's day_, not father's day."

"Okay. You know, it's okay to not listen when someone says you must have a daddy _and_ a mommy." JJ hoped Zoey wasn't dealing with too much hassle for having two male parents.

"She said no," Zoey insisted with a pout. "So I made a mommy card. Dad always says Daddy's the perfect housewife."

JJ laughed loudly. Oh God, he wanted to see this...

--

As they turned into the mansion's driveway, JJ could see Bruce parking his car near the garage. He grinned to himself and pulled up to the front steps. He got out and looked back at Maggie. "We're going to stay a few minutes, okay?"

Maggie cheered approvingly and hurried out of her seatbelt. She grabbed Zoey's lunchbox, and the girls got out.

"Hi, JJ! Thanks for picking up the girls." Zoey bounced on her feet, waiting for Bruce to get closer. "Whatcha waiting for, kiddo? Give me a hug!" She ran into his arms and giggled as Bruce swung her around.

"Are you coming in for a bit?" Bruce asked, carrying his daughter against his hip.

"If you don't mind the company," JJ said.

"Not a all, I'm sure John would like to see you, too."

JJ moved ahead to hold the door open.

"John! JJ and Maggie are here!" Bruce set Zoey down and hung up his jacket. Zoey followed the sound of Johnny's voice into the den. Maggie hurried after her. "They're going to start having their own secret language before we know it," Bruce commented, sending a grin JJ's way.

"More like they'll probably take over the world," JJ answered. Bruce nodded in agreement.

They walked down to the den where squeals of laughter filled the air. Johnny had an arm around each girl and managed to wriggle his fingers against their sides to tickle them.

"Stop it!" Zoey wailed, her checks reddening from laughing so hard.

"You surrender?" Johnny teased.

"Yeah, okay!" Maggie cried.

"Well then..." Johnny let them go abruptly and the girls collapsed next to him on the couch.

"Are you done torturing the kids?" JJ asked, sitting down in an armchair. "Because I have it on good authority that Zoey here has something to share."

Zoey jumped up and nodded vigorously. She dug through her backpack and pulled out the envelope. She looked around for Bruce and pointed at him. "Daddy, you sit on the couch!" She then pointed at the empty cushion to Johnny's left.

"Yes, ma'am!" Bruce sat down and wrapped an arm around Johnny's shoulders.

"What do you have, kiddo?" Johnny asked.

Zoey rolled her eyes and huffed. "Not for _you_," she said in exasperation. JJ hid a smile. "It's for _Daddy_."

Bruce raised an eyebrow as she held out the envelope.

"For me, huh?" Bruce freed his arm and pulled out the card. He saw the back first and Zoey stepped forward to impatiently turn it over. Johnny smothered a laugh with his hand. JJ's grin widened. Bruce looked a little confused. "The... 'bestest mommy?'" He looked up at his beaming daughter, then opened the card to see the inside. Johnny leaned over and JJ stood up to get a look.

On one half of the paper Zoey had drawn her usual family portrait—yellow-faced Johnny, brown-faced Bruce, and part orange, part brown for herself; her dads wore T-shirts and pants, she wore a dress. On the other half she'd drawn a similar portrait but Bruce suddenly had a heart-like red mouth and wore a skirt over his pants.

JJ and Johnny cracked up. JJ had to lean against the couch for support as he gasped for breath. Bruce's mouth opened and closed, expressions of amusement, embarrassment, and horror rapidly crossing his face.

"Daddy," Zoey said impatiently.

Finally Bruce managed to settle on amused and looked up. JJ and Johnny held their breathes. "Thank you, sweetie," he said. "Ah... but why am I wearing a dress like you?"

Zoey maneuvered herself between her parents and explained very slowly so that they would understand. "This is _really_ us," she said, pointing at the first half. "And _this_ is what Mrs. Manson _thinks_." She then placed her finger on the second picture of Bruce and continued. "It's not a dress, silly! You're wearing an apron!"

"And lipstick, apparently," Johnny said, snickering quietly.

"Boys can wear lipstick!" Zoey said stubbornly, crossing her arms and glaring at her dad.

"My bad! Sorry, kiddo," Johnny apologized, sill smirking.

Bruce refolded the card and put it aside. "That's my girl," Bruce said, lifting Zoey onto his lap. (Maggie slid over to lean against Johnny.) "You were fooling the substitute teacher, weren't you?" He kissed her check when she nodded. "I bet you had the best card in the class."

"Yeah!" Zoey agreed whole-heartedly.

"Me, too!" Maggie said.

JJ moved closer to her and ruffled her hair. "Definitely. You want to go home and give your drawing to Mom?"

"Yeah!" Maggie pulled away from Johnny and stood up. She waved at Zoey. "See you tomorrow!"

"Bye!" Zoey returned, waving back.

When the Bannermans had gone, Zoey settled against Bruce's chest. Johnny smiled and wrapped his arm around Bruce's waist. "Happy mother's day," he whispered.

Bruce glared at him sidelong but didn't protest when Johnny kissed his cheek.

-- --


End file.
